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Tank capacitor burn in



cc: tesla-at-grendel.objinc-dot-com

Richard,

Last night I was burning in my recently completed .02mfd rolled tank
capacitors as suggested in the Keelynet capacitor file.  I used a 12kv, 60ma
neon transformer and conected each transformer output to one capacitor,
connected the other two capacitor terminals together and connected this point
to the transformer center tap (case).  I ran the transformer on a variac at
about 50%.  Each capacitor should have had about 3kv across it.  The
transformer got extremely hot.  I had a large fan blowing on it after about 2
hours.  I ran it for 4 hours total.  The transformer was so hot you could not
hold your hand on it.  A small amount of oil (melted tar I bet) actually
seeped out of the bottom of the transformer.  I thought the neons were
current self limiting and they would not burn up under load.  Am I missing
something?  Is there a better way to do this?

Thanks,  Ed Sonderman